NGOs under Supreme Court scanner after the CBI said only 10 per cent of them filed annual statements

Nearly 31 lakh NGOs across the country, most of whom receive funds worth crores of rupees from the government and abroad, came under the Supreme Court’s scrutiny on Friday after the Central Bureau of Investigation submitted that only 10 per cent of them have filed their annual income and expenditure statements.

Raising the issue of transparency regarding their functioning, the CBI report filed in the court said that out of 29,996,23 NGOs in 26 states (information from three states is awaited), only 2,90,787 — a paltry 10 per cent — have filed their balance sheet. Shockingly, none of the 76,566 NGOs in Delhi filed the statement.

Over 31 lakh NGOs, which receive funds from the country and abroad, are now under the SC’s scanner after the CBI said that only 10 per cent of NGOs have filed their annual statements

Between 2003 and 2010, the Union and state governments released Rs 6,654 crore to various NGOs, averaging almost Rs 950 crore per year, according to information received through RTI queries by the Asian Centre for Human Rights.

And for the financial year 2010- 13, available data show that about 22,000 NGOs received over $3.2 billion from abroad, of which $650 million came from the US.

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According to details received from seven union territories, it was found that only 50 out of 82,250 NGOs, which translates into one percent, filed proper statements before the authority which registered them.

“Complete all compilations fast. Then you can begin arguments. Let us see why these NGOs cannot be asked to maintain complete record and submit them to the authority which registered them. This is important for transparency,” a bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu had told Additional Solicitor General Paramjit Singh Patwalia, who represented the CBI during the last hearing in January this year.

Significantly, the CBI suggested that only an NGO which has filed statements for three preceding years should be given a grant by the government. Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of NGOs at 5,48,148 (out of them only 1, 19,000 have filed their balance sheets) followed by Andhra Pradesh which had 2, 92,144 NGOs. Out of West Bengal’s 2,34,000 NGOs, only 17,089 filed statements.

From the report sent by the governments of various states and Union Territories, the CBI shockingly found that none of the NGOs in Rajasthan (which has a total of 1,36,978), Assam (97,437), Himachal Pradesh (52,394), Punjab (84,752), Kerala (3,69,137), Meghalaya (15,032) , Nagaland (4,491), Tripura (6,679) Manipur (1,640), Goa (553), and Union Territories Chandigarh (3,981), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (611) and Lakshadweep (612) filed annual income expenditure statement before the authority which registered them.

The court had ordered a CBI probe into the functioning of all NGOs in the country, expanding the scope of a PIL filed last year by Supreme Court lawyer M L Sharma, who had originally only sought investigation into misuse of funds by Anna Hazare’s NGO Hind Swaraj Trust.

The court had on September 2, 2013 asked the CBI to get information from all states and Union Territories regarding the number of NGOs in the country and whether they are filing annual income and expenditure statement before the authority which registered them.

Earlier, the CBI had expressed difficulty in probing and collecting information on NGOs and had pleaded that the task be handed over to states, but the plea was summarily rejected by the court which directed the agency to comply with its order.

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NGOs under Supreme Court scanner after the CBI said only 10 per cent of themfiled their annual statements